BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Alec James is one of the chosen leaders of the Wisconsin football team, but the senior defensive end and co-captain isn't known for speaking his mind.
If it's all the same to you, he'd prefer to let his effort and attitude do the talking.
So it caught some off-guard Saturday when the Badgers gathered for halftime of their Big Ten Conference opener with Northwestern at Camp Randall Stadium and, without warning, James' baritone filled the room.
"I felt like I needed to step up and say something," he said.
Tenth-ranked UW trailed the Wildcats by three points and its own worst enemy could be found in the nearest mirror.
Turnovers, missed tackles and wasted opportunities dotted the first-half landscape and provided all the fixings for an upset.
After brief, pointed summations from senior inside linebacker Jack Cichy and coach Paul Chryst, James took the floor and delivered a matter-of-fact wake-up call.
The non-conference season is done and gone. A new challenge awaits.
"For the guys who really didn't know, welcome to the Big Ten," he said. "This is what it's all about. You're going to be fighting on every play, playing good competition every week no matter who it is."
The Wildcats are a perennial Pandora's box of tactical challenges — spread formations, quick passes, speedy skill guys and an up-tempo attack — that have caused major problems for UW for the better of three decades.
"I wasn't mad," James said of the moment. "I was just telling guys the facts of the Big Ten. I told them to get ready because they're not going to lay down in the second half and we're not going to, either."
Properly refocused, the Badgers came to life in the second half, turning a 10-7 halftime deficit into a 33-24 victory and their second straight 4-0 start under Chryst.
UW scored touchdowns on its first two possessions of the second half and rode an aggressive, opportunistic, playmaking defensive unit the rest of the way.
James surprised some of his teammates with his presentation.
"I wasn't expecting it," senior outside linebacker Garret Dooley confessed.
"Alec is not really much of a vocal guy," senior strong safety D'Cota Dixon said. "He's really a guy who does it by example."
So what got into James? A jolt of self-assuredness given it was his 23rd birthday, perhaps?
"No," he laughed.
So why then?
"I've been named one of the captains of this team," he said. "I can lead by example only so much. At some point I'm going to have to start leading by my voice."
Dixon said he was proud of James.
"I think he was feeling what we were all feeling and he just put it into words," Dixon said. "You could see it in his face. You could hear it in his voice."
The Badgers allowed a season high in points, but their defense definitely carried the day.
That unit racked up eight quarterback sacks — its highest single-game output since totaling eight at Penn State in 2001 — and 11 tackles for loss.
The Wildcats were limited to 25 yards rushing, the fewest by a UW opponent since Michigan State mustered that amount in 2008.
Northwestern tailback Justin Jackson came into the day needing 108 yards to become its all-time career rushing leader, but he was held to 25 yards on nine carries.
It marked the 19th time in the last 30 outings that UW yielded less than 100 yards rushing to an opponent.
UW did some of its best defensive work in the second half. In addition to six sacks, senior free safety Natrell Jamerson returned an interception — his second pick of the day — 36 yards for a touchdown.
The Badgers didn't play poorly on defense in the first two quarters, but James still had issues.
"In the first half we had a lot of guys who were there to make a play in the backfield or make a PBU (pass break-up) or a tackle, but we weren't necessarily finishing on every single one," he said.
That changed in the second half thanks in part to some aggressive calls by UW defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard.
Dooley was credited with a career-best three sacks, while Dixon had 1.5 and a team-best 12 tackles.
"Our coaches did a really good job of dialing up some new pressures that we never ran before and we were able to hit home today," Dooley said.
"You put pressure on and good things are going to come out of it," Jamerson said.
The last sack sealed the decision. Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson rolled out to his right in his own end zone with under a minute to play, but instead of throwing it away, he was thumped by fast-closing Dixon for a safety.
Dixon was asked to explain James' halftime message.
"He was reaffirming, letting us know what we're here for, that it's Big Ten (season) and adversity will come, but now it's time to ball up," Dixon said. "Forget the outside noise. Forget what we've already done and the teams we've already played."
Jamerson said James got everyone's attention.
"It's different coming from a player than a coach," he said.
Especially from someone not known for speech-making.
Jamerson said James' message was a mix of "get it right for your teammates" to "play our ball" to "everyone's going to fight (in the Big Ten) till the end."
Dooley liked what James had to say as well.
"He basically said we need to step up as leaders, especially as a defense and a team," Dooley said.
"He said we cannot mess around. We cannot take anything for granted. That every single play is something we have to focus on.
"That really is big for a guy who usually isn't the most vocal. He really hit it home with what he said. It really got peoples' heads on fire," Dooley said.
James was in a mood to celebrate.
"It's been a good birthday so far," he said.
The Badgers Tame the Wildcats by Wisconsin Badgers on Exposure
